Title: Real-time differential refractometry without interferometry at a sensitivity level of 10^-6
Abstract: We present a refractometer based on the principle of total internal reflection that can sensitively record, in real time, the refractive index of fluids over a wide range of refractive indices. The device uses a divergent laser beam and a linear diode array, and has no mechanical or optical moving parts, enabling us to achieve the measurement of a refractive index at a sensitivity level of 10(-6). Our refractometer does not rely on interferometry, thus enabling the device to be compact, portable, and inexpensive. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a noninterferometric device that performs real-time differential refractometry with a sensitivity of better than 10(-5) has been demonstrated in the literature. We show that our experimental results agree very well with Fresnel theory. We establish a theoretical limit on the sensitivity of this class of refractometers.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 36
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